History
Conflicting accounts of Olympian goddess Hecate's origin and intentions exist, though most likely she is the daughter of the second generation Titans Perses and Asteria. In ancient times, she was worshipped by cults throughout the Mediterranean and credited with bestowing power and wealth to many people. Although mentioned frequently in mortal accounts of Greek myth as an object of worship or fear, few narratives of her exploits exist, though she is known to be a friend of Persephone, goddess of the Underworld. At some point, she mated with Phorcys and mothered Scylla. In recent times, through unrevealed means, Hecate suffered amnesia and believed she was a visitor from the stars. Detecting the sorcerous criminals the Elementals (Hellfire, Hydron and Magnum), who had been cast into a mystic vortex, she restored their physical forms. Learning they were after the Ruby Scarab, a magical artifact of great power that had been stolen months before by professional thief Richard "Asp" Harper, Hecate aided their search, apparently to prevent them from using it for carnage. Ms. Marvel (Caron Danvers, at the time believing her civilian and heroine IDs to be separate personae), responded to a precognitive vision of a space shuttle crash involving friend Salia Petrie by flying to Saracen Cay; seeing to retain the Scarab, Hecate and the Elementals attacked her. Hecate magically created physical representations of Kree battle armor and tanks from Ms. Marvel's memories to battle her. As Hecate and Marvel fought, the Elementals coerced Harper to reveal the Scarab's location. They then turned on Hecate, with Magnus using the Scarab to amplify his power and hurt a small island at her. Hecate destroyed the half-million ton mass easily, the resulting explosion causing the shuttle accident Danvers had earlier predicted. Ms. Marvel and Hecate joined forces and defeated the Elementals. Grasping the Scarab, Marvel's Danvers persona took over and, mourning the presumed death of Petrie, fiercely attacked Hecate. Rather than fight back though, Hecate talked, helping Danvers realize her Ms. Marvel persona was simply an extension of her own, facilitating her dissociative personalities' integration. Danvers and Hecate parted on friendly terms. Hecate left with the Scarab, although it is unrevealed what, if anything, she did with it.
At a later point, Hecate, in a deeper amnesiac state, was confined for unrevealed crimes in the superhuman prison the Raft and took part in a massive escape. Along with Basilisk (Basil Elks), Man-Bull (Will Taurents) and Griffin (Johnny Horton), she staged a bank robbery, which was interrupted by the Olympian Hercules (Heracles). Contact with Hercules' shield, a copy of the mystic Aegis, restored Hecate's full memory and godly appearance, and apparently unleashed repressed malevolence. Joining forces with Kyknos, war god Ares' son, and his Warhawks, Hecate took advantage of the fear caused by the worldwide assault of the Asgardian god of fear, the Serpent (Cul), to terrorize Brooklyn, empowering Kyknos' worshipers and transforming animals, objects and terrain into monsters and creating violent impulses in the populace. Hercules, Basilisk, Man-Bull and Griffin (driven feral from the magic) opposed Hecate and Kyknos (the latter three for self-preservation); as Hercules' bravery inspired others, the spell Hecate cast to empower Kyknos' followers instead increased the power of Basilisk, Griffin and Man-Bull, allowing them to defeat the evil god. Hecate departed, the transformative spells she had cast reversed.
Attributes
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Powers
As goddess of magic, Hecate is an immensely powerful sorceress, able to conjure devastating blasts, read thoughts, project fear into the minds of others, create substantive objects from others' memories, alter the forms of physical objects and people as well as possibly many other feats. She can command dogs, and canine creatures become vicious in an undefined radius around her. She can alter her own form at will.
Abilities
She is unaging, able to resist temperature extremes and immune to diseases and most toxins. Hecate can grant power to mortal sorcerers and has been invoked by the Dark Dimension's Clea in the casting of spells.
See Also
- 4 appearance(s) of Hecate (Earth-616)
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Hecate (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Hecate (Earth-616)
- 1 image(s) of Hecate (Earth-616)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Hecate (Earth-616)